Tag Archives: Australia

Having recently visited Mandala Wines in the Yarra Valley and learning more about it from owner Charles Smedley, I eagerly anticipate samples of new vintages to look at on Let’s Taste. The varieties that made these wines are ubiquitous in Australia, but as always it’s exciting to see what certain regions have to say through the grape. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below, as always many thanks for the samples Mandala.

In 2018 De Bortoli Wines is celebrating 90 years of wine history in Australia, and as a member of the third generation, Leanne De Bortoli has worked tirelessly with her winemaker husband Steve Webber to take the company to new heights. Growing up in Griffith where the business was founded by her grandfather, she and Steve helped establish their Yarra Valley-based facility in the 1980s and was instrumental in evolving the brand image to a more premium one. In a number of ways and at numerous times De Bortoli have been trend-setters in the wine industry, and as a member of Australia’s First Families of Wine they are well placed to continue producing outstanding wines and having a positive influence.

Long overdue tasting of some new releases from iconic and historic Tahbilk Winery based in Nagambie Victoria. On this edition we are looking at three reds from the 2016 vintage, let me know your thoughts below.

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I’ve been following the incredible work of Lucy Kendall and Alice L’Estrange recently, particularly their work importing some awesome and authentic wines from the South of Chile. I recently invited them each onto episodes of my wine podcast The Vincast, to chat about their backgrounds, and to talk about the launch of their own locally made wines under the George branding. Here are my pre-release impressions of 80% of the wines now available.

Alice L’Estrange is undoubtedly a lover of culture and language, so it is unsurprising that she got into wines from Chile. While spending a year living in Mexico improving her Spanish, she gained an appreciation for the purity of farming and natural agricultural produce, but it was her friend Lucy who introduced her to wine. After a fateful evening and a fateful bottle, they decided to do something wine-related, and Cultivar Vinos was that something.

Lucy Kendall has managed to fit in quite a bit of winemaking experience in a relatively short amount of time, both in Australia and overseas. Thanks to her BFF Alice she got the opportunity to not only make wine in Chile, but also import some to Australia via Cultivar Vinos and give trade and consumers the opportunity to see authentic traditional Chilean wines. More recently she and Alice have been making wine closer to home and are about to launch them under the George brand.

I’ve only recently been introduced to the wines of Mandala in the Victorian region of the Yarra Valley, and I was thrilled to have a chance to look at the 2017 vintages of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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Another month, another box of samples from d’Arenberg. Without question the team at d’Arenberg have been the biggest supporters of Let’s Taste with The Intrepid Wino and I always appreciate the opportunity to look at new releases. On this edition we are looking at wines I’ve tasted before, so great to taste new vintages.

Growing up in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand it is not surprising that Michael John Corbett ended up working in the wine industry, even though he doesn’t come from a wine family. After studying winemaking he had the opportunity to work vintages in Europe, which was where he discovered a great love of the grenache variety. After originally meeting in Hawkes Bay, he joined forces with Burgundian Edouard Maurisset-Latour and his Australian wife Ali to launch Vanguardist Wines, producing incredible wines from the Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale.

Recently I was down in Geelong for a lovely event at The Hot Chicken Project were I was profiling my own Vino Intrepido wines along with some incredible examples from the Enoteca Sydney portfolio that I represent here in Melbourne. I was joined by my gorgeous fiancé, and before the event we went for a drink at Geelong Cellar Door, owned by John Helmer who I met some years ago when he was working at Corks Crew Cellars in Torquay. John insisted we try his first foray into winemaking, and I was thrilled to open a bottle of his Domaine d’Esterre ‘Lalou’ Rosé 2017. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

The Vincast

The Vincast - a Wine Podcast with The Intrepid Wino

Wine - Wine People - Wine Culture

A podcast about wine, wine culture and wine people. Every week a different guest from the wine industry joins host The Intrepid Wino (aka James Scarcebrook) for a casual chat about the world of wine.

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